From time to time I complain on this blog about the horrible tragedy of my childhood regarding my never having been successful at talking my parents into buying me a horse.
Well, Dear Reader, I am happy to report that this tragedy was finally remedied when I got my first horse at age 50. Better late than never I always say.
Meet Joey! My retired racehorse whom I often refer to as Sedentariat:
Anyway, here’s the real Joey:
First, I pulled Joey away from eating alfalfa, took him out of his stall and tied him up at the tie rail. Now since it’s been raining, his stall had three deep puddles which I had to bail the water out of using a dustpan (the only thing I could find).
Then since all the open spaces were occupied with other horses and riders, I had to turn him out in a round pen at the top of a big steep hill.
So I trudged up the hill, put Joey in the pen, trudged back down the hill, bailed more water out of his stall, shoveled out a trench outside his stall so the water in the stall would drain better, trudged back up to the top of the hill, got Joey, trudged back down the hill, washed and treated his legs (he has a weird skin condition on his legs that I’m always slathering the latest “cure” on) –then dissolved his antibiotics in some water (for the leg condition), hid the liquified antibiotics in his alfalfa (when he wasn’t looking), bailed more water out of his stall, schlepped in a big bail of shavings, covered his stall floor with shavings, walked him around and let him eat grass while the “slather” on his legs dried, put his blanket on him and, finally — a mere three hours later, returned him to a nice clean, fresh, dry stall where he resumed eating alfalfa.
And there you have it, Dear Readers, my childhood dream come true!
Until next time . . . I love you
Linda Vernon Humor 
Regardless of all that trudging around you sure have a pretty horse who loves you! Joey, the slowest racehorse that ever lived.
I know. I actually don’t mind doing it at all. In fact I love it and Joey too. I’m leaving in a few minutes to do it all over again. 🙂
I love LOVE the title of this blog. When I got the notification in my inbox, I started laughing right away! The things we’ll do for the animals we love (and dreamed for as kids). I tell myself that each night when I sift through litter boxes, find chewed up embroidery thread strewn through the house and cat kibble on the living room floor (they prefer at times to carry their food from room to room before consuming). 🙂
Haha! Aw, kitties can be so darned cute! And with all that thread around your house Erin I’m sure said Kitty is a very contented feline! So glad you liked the title. Sedentariat fits my horse most of the time — sometimes he’ll kick into racehorse mode though, and is it ever fun to watch. (as long as I’m not on him at the time, that is!). 🙂
How come Joey #1 has a metal bowl on his hat? Or is that part of his head? Is he a metal head? Did I just say something offensive?
I love this post!
Sillyliss, so glad you like the post, and I have no idea why Joey #1 has a bowl on his head. If you knew him, you, you would just know that the metal bowl is so “Matt”. 😀
He is a beauty, and looks like he knows he fell into the soft life….. welcome to the world of responsible animal husbandry….. 🙂 I never owned a horse, but have mucked out my share of stalls, so I know wherefrom you are coming…. nice post, and actually, probably a good lesson for any young girl who wants one of her own…..
Funny you shoudl mention responsible animal husbandry. A lady out there at the stables yesterday was surprised to see that the mare she adopted from a horse shelter a couple months ago had had a baby in the night! Cute as all get out!
Though I complain, I actually love everything about horse ownership. Just being around horses makes my day! 🙂
The new colt was cute, or the clueless woman who owned the mare?…. Horses, with dogs, cats, and a couple other creatures, all are part of the pact we made many generations ago around the campfires, the pact of mutual trust and love, to band together for communal cause, and the animals certainly live up to their parts…. see ya….
Oh sorry, I didn’t make that clear, the woman gave birth to a baby colt.
Bwahahahaha!
Good looking horse, Linda! Belated congratulations, and glad he made your dreams come true.
And knowing about your love of horses, I understand your mockery of Gluey Paste a few posts back.
One question – how hard is Joey #1 to saddle? 😉
Thanks El Guapo! Ha! Joey#1 only gets ridden bareback by Joey#3 (my grandson, Clayton).
And about the Gluey Paste, what I don’t get is if they make glue out of horses then why are they so easy to get bucked off of?
Hi,
I think it is wonderful that you finally got your dream, and he is a very nice looking horse as well. What a shame that his stall gets so much water, good on you for digging a bit of a trench, it’s a shame there is no way to actually stop the water from getting in the stall all together, but it is a labour of love. 😀
Thank you Mags. Yes it is a shame about all the water. I asked the owner if he could fix it and he said he would, but so far I haven’t seen hide nor hair of him! I thik the solution may be moving Joey to a different stables (a drier one)! And you’re right it is always a labor of love! 🙂
Hahaha! Perhaps your parents knew what they were doing? Hard for me to imagine little Linda schlepping anything around, except maybe your Beatles and Monkees 45’s? Taffy Mae, God rest her flat soul, was probably much more your speed. : )
Sedentariat — LOL!!!
“God rest her flat soul” Oh Lisa! Thanks for giving me my first laugh of the day! 😀
I love my horse. I’d rather clean his stall than clean my own house and I figure if I get to ride him 30 minutes for every 30 hours that I spend caring for him, I’m doing ok. They are a lot of work but, for me, well worth the effort.
(Why alfalfa?!)
I completely agree! There’s a lot of pleasure to having a horse and most of it doesn’t invovle riding. Though I do love to ride him, I love tending him just as much. I think a lot of people think what we do is kind of crazy, but as far as I’m concerned spending time outside with my horse is the secret to my mental health and happiness! And I feel blessed everyday to have found that secret!
This stables feeds oat hat and alfafa. Oat hay in the moring and alfafa at night. I actually mix his antibiotics in All in One but I didn’t think readers would know what that was.
What a handsome boy. He’s my favorite color too.
When I tell people I have a BS in Equine Science and they look impressed, I tell them it just makes me more qualified to shovel sh!t. There is nothing less glamorous than having to clean a mucky stall, deal with mud and then all the shavings get stuck to your clothes… Childhood dreams – the wind in my hair as we gallop through the fields with the sweet smell of horse hair in the air… Adult reality – my hair is matted with wind and rain as I try not to dry heave after pulling up the stall mats to re-level the floor after it’s been flooded. Oh, yeah, been there done that.
Hopefully you’re making headway on the leg stuff. Not sure I get the antibiotics… usually it’s attributed to a fungus. Oh well, if it works, it works.
Hahahaha! And you don’t think of yourself as a writer! You’ve described things perfectly, Cowgirliz, AND I am totally impressed! A degree in Equine Science! That is so cool! I wish I would have thought of something like that when I graducated from high school! I would have never skipped class!
His legs are getting better and because his skin peeled off from a mixture she applied, she thought he should be on anitibiotics just in case.
Interesting– you never see that part in any of the John Wayne westerns.
P.S. Tell Matt the barber has completed his Beatle haircut and he can take it off now… : P
You don’t do you? That’s because they don’t want you to know about the not so OK Corral.
Ha ha! Mark! You solved the bowl on the head mystery. I’ll tell Matt as soon as he gets back, he went bowling. 😛
Is that Matt’s interpretation of a “bowl haircut” or some sort of college fraternity prank? Is your daughter aware that her husband does this?
Ha! Of course, my daughter was completely bowled over about it too! 🙂
Linda – this is fabulous! I too, have always wanted a horse! In fact, when I was on holiday in the USA a few years back with my Mum, we were in Jacksonhole and I had my mum take a picture of me with a sad frown on my face as I held up a book entitled “If I Had a Horse… How Different Life Would Be.” 😦
I hope that you and Joey have lots of fun together – this is wonderful! Enjoy! 🙂
Well, thank you so much mskatykins! I hope you do get a horse someday. Never give up! And you know what? Even though I didn’t get him until I was 50, I’ve never ever gotten tired of being around him. He keeps me young and energized. If you are ever on holiday in the USA you definitely have to come by the Bay area and ride him! Oh and you should post that picture of you!! 😀
That would be amazing! Lol, the picture is horrendous but i think it’s funny! I was deliberately putting on the sad face to make my mum feel bad! 🙂 I probably can only post it on my blog, right? I’ll look it out! 🙂
I’m so pleased you’re enjoying him, that is awesome! 🙂
Oh yes definitely get it out and post it on your blog! I can’t wait to see it! YAY 😀
Voila – here is the horror that is my picture! He he! 🙂 http://teaandtantalisingtales.wordpress.com/2012/04/03/usa-canyon-lands/